


turn of the tide

by polkadottedmars



Category: Nancy Drew - Carolyn Keene
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-03
Updated: 2014-07-03
Packaged: 2018-02-07 07:50:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,434
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1890855
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/polkadottedmars/pseuds/polkadottedmars
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Carson considers the losses and gains in his life during an important conversation.</p>
            </blockquote>





	turn of the tide

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ndnickerson](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ndnickerson/gifts).



> Written for ndnickerson to thank her for her generous addition to my Nancy Drew collection!

Carson Drew was no stranger to loss. He had been a day shy of his twelfth birthday when his father took off, leaving him with a devastated mother, a confused six-year-old Eloise, and an angry wish made on his cake's candles that his father never returned. He learned to adapt to his new position as man of the house, taking on odd jobs around the neighborhood—mowing lawns, shoveling driveways, and walking dogs—to help supplement his mother’s measly salary as a receptionist at a lawyer’s office.

At fifteen, his grandmother—the only family he had remaining on his father’s side—died, leaving him enough money to start seriously considering colleges. Eloise had already known she wanted to be a teacher, but Carson, having taken on a lot of responsibility since his father’s departure, hadn’t thought past how to lighten his mother’s load each day. Thinking it was better to join the workforce right away instead of spend money they didn’t have on an education, he had been prepared to turn his after school job bagging groceries at the corner store into a career, the owner telling him daily that he was an asset and could make his way up to manager one day.

It wasn’t until he started listening as his mother told stories over dinner about cases at work that he realized he wanted to become a lawyer. Not willing to leave his mother and sister, he commuted the forty-five minutes to Chicago daily during his undergraduate education. After his graduation, his mother—not wanting him to sacrifice for them any longer—and Eloise—sick of him scaring off her dates—all about kicked him out of the house.

He met Sarah his first year of law school. She was a junior at the time, studying journalism. Sarah lived two floors below him in his apartment complex, and Carson learned to time his trips to the mail room with hers. His roommate asked hers out, and the four found themselves hanging out together often. Carson and Sarah’s friendship outlasted their roommates’ relationship, and one day Carson finally found the nerve to ask her out on a date. They bonded over their commonalities—a mutual interest in justice and an upbringing by only one parent—Sarah’s mother having died during childbirth. He had felt that for once in his life, things were going his way. He was intent on not letting Sarah became another one of the losses of his life.

Eloise graduated from high school a year early and decided to use her money from their grandmother to go to school in New York. Their mother had smiled widely, proud of her daughter’s accomplishments, but he and Eloise both knew that she was holding back tears. But what Eloise didn’t know was that Carson too was barely keeping it together, not wanting to add his baby sister to his list of losses.

He asked Sarah to marry him the night of his law school graduation. She had already been making a name for herself as an investigative reporter, quickly climbing the ranks at The Chicago Herald. They moved to River Heights, her hometown, when her father’s health declined shortly after their third wedding anniversary.

His death was the first loss Carson experience second-hand. He had formed a relationship with the man over the years, but it was a far greater heartache to lose him for Sarah than it had been for him. He had to be there for Sarah, help her through her grief.

Nancy, named after Sarah’s mother, came along three years later. Carson, worried about his mother's health, had been trying to convince his mother to move closer for months. Elated at the birth of her first grandchild, she finally agreed, but she suffered a heart attack before she was able to. Eloise flew in from New York, where she had started her career as a teacher, and she helped Carson make the funeral arrangements. Together Carson, Eloise, and Sarah, with a three-month-old Nancy in a carrier on her chest, went through the house, packing up what wasn’t already in boxes waiting for the trip to River Heights.

Carson got through the loss of his mother, knowing that he had his wife and daughter by his side. He knew that he would grow gray with Sarah, watching their family grow, until one day he realized he knew nothing about the future. He and Sarah had desperately wanted a sibling for Nancy, but when Sarah didn’t get pregnant after months of trying they decided to see a specialist. Nothing had prepared him to learn that Sarah wasn’t getting pregnant because of a cancerous cyst on her ovary.

None of his experiences with loss had prepared him for that. Sarah fought as hard as she could for awhile, not wanting to miss out on any part of her daughter’s life, as her mother had missed hers. Nancy had barely been two when Sarah was diagnosed, and she would cry every night for the milestones she could miss.

When Carson thought about Sarah he tried not to think back to the year that followed her diagnosis. Always full of strength and life, Sarah was a force to be reckoned with, but sick Sarah paled in comparison to the woman he married. He would have given up anything—his job, his money, even his own health—anything, just for Sarah to have lived, for Nancy not to have grown up with the amazing mother she was blessed to have been born to.

Carson and Sarah tried to shield Nancy from it all, but even at three she was perceptive. She and Sarah had always had a close bond, but in the months leading up to Sarah’s death they were inseparable, neither wanting to stay away from the other.

At Sarah’s funeral, Carson reaffirmed the promise he had made when Nancy was born. He had vowed that she would never question his love like he and Eloise had questioned their father’s. And when Sarah died, he vowed that he would do his best to give her everything she wanted, even though he knew the one thing she would want the most was the one thing he couldn’t give her- her mother back. He fostered her independence, knowing one day it would take her away from him. And it did—across the country and to foreign countries as she solved mysteries. But she always came home to him.

He knew that was all about to change, though, as he sat across from his daughter’s boyfriend in his home office. Ned had called him the day Nancy left for Georgia for her latest case, saying he wanted to take advantage of Nancy’s absence and meet with him. Carson didn’t need his daughter’s investigative skills to know what this meeting was about.

Ned had just begun his last year at Emerson the month before, and that summer he and Nancy had celebrated their fifth anniversary. There weren’t many options for where their relationship was headed, and Carson knew that Ned’s dedication to Nancy meant breaking up wasn’t an option. He probably wouldn’t be too happy with their relationship remaining stagnant, but Carson supposed having Nancy partially committed was a better option than not having her at all.

“I know you know what this is about, sir,” Ned began, strangely calm for a boy about to ask for his girlfriend’s hand in marriage.

Man, Carson had to correct himself. While he was still young at twenty-one, Ned was by all accounts an adult. And his daughter was a young woman herself, for that matter. Ned was no longer the sixteen-year-old boy he had been first met and instantly known was going to be different than the other boys his daughter had gone on dates with. Just as Nancy was no longer the smitten fifteen-year-old who had nervously introduced them, hoping for her father’s approval.

Carson knew he couldn’t deny Ned’s request based on their age. They were adults, and had been together longer than most couples who decided to get married. He and Sarah had only been together for three years themselves. If he had known he was only going to get nine short years with her as his wife, maybe he would have proposed earlier.

He also knew that in those five years the young couple had gone through more than most. The majority of their relationship had been long distance, Ned studying at Emerson and Nancy at home in River Heights or tracking suspects across the globe. They had had their share of fights, even trying to take a break and see other people. But that had only taught them that they belonged with each other.

And most importantly, Carson knew that Ned would take care of Nancy. He had shown that over the years, going out of his way to support and protect her—even risking his own life on occasion.

“I had an inkling,” Carson confirmed. “I wasn’t expecting this quite this soon—not for a few more months or so down the road,” he mused. “Unless you’re considering a faster time table than I imagined?”

Ned shook his head. “I don’t plan on asking her until closer to graduation.”

“That’s nearly seven months away,” Carson observed.

“I would like your blessing to ask Nancy to marry me, sir. I believe that I have treated Nancy well enough for you to support us being together, but if that’s not the case then I would like time to prove that I can deserve her.”

“You needn’t worry about that,” Carson replied amused.

“I also wanted to,” Ned faltered. “I know how much Nancy means to you. I would gain a lot from marrying Nancy, but you…you would stand to lose her. Not permanently, but from your home at least. And I can’t imagine being in your position, getting to see her every day and then one day not having that light she emits around any more. I wanted to give you time to get used to the idea.”

Of all the things Carson had imagined Ned saying, he hadn’t expected that. “Thank you. I appreciate that more than you could know. Although, I have to admit, I’ve been getting use to the idea for the past five years.”

Ned smiled hesitantly. “Does that mean you’re okay with me proposing?”

“More than okay,” Carson responded reassuringly. “You have loved, respected, and supported my daughter. I couldn’t ask for more.”

Ned’s smile grew. “Thank you. I promise that I will continue to for the rest of our lives.”

Carson chuckled. “I imagine so. If not, you’d have Nancy to answer to. And I’d be waiting in line behind her of course.”

Joining his future father-in-law’s laughter, Ned nodded. “And both of my parents would be after you. But I can assure you that I would be the first one. I couldn’t live with myself if I hurt Nancy.”

Carson smiled graciously, getting up to pour them both a glass of scotch from his cabinet. “It’s probably too early for a celebratory drink until she says yes, but how about a toast for good luck?”

The two clanked glasses, Ned thanking him.

“Have you thought seriously about how Nancy will answer? I know my daughter, and I know that as much as she loves you, she still has her fears.”

Ned paused, unsure of how to admit to his future father-in-law. “I, I don’t know how much Nancy told you during that case with Jessica Thorne a couple years ago.”

Carson searched his memory, remembering how moody his daughter had been during that case. He had asked her about it, and she had finally admitted that Ned was in a fake engagement to trap a suspect. “All I remember is a jealous and forlorn Nancy running around trying to solve the case as fast as she could to end that fake engagement of yours.”

The comment earned Carson a half smile from Ned. “I proposed to Nancy first. Before she knew about the case.”

Carson had always thought of himself as hard to surprise, but he was floored by Ned’s revelation. “I had no idea,” he responded.

“I wanted her to be the first girl I proposed to,” Ned explained. “Honestly, I wanted her to be the only girl I proposed to, but when Jessica started coming on to me so strongly and wouldn’t accept no as an answer, my radar went off. I wanted to get rid of her as fast as possible so that I could enjoy my summer with Nancy, and not have Jessica lurking around all the time.”

Carson nodded along, having already heard Nancy’s explanation of why Ned went to such drastic measures.

“Nancy said no, obviously. I would have been surprised with a different answer, but happily surprised. At the end of the case, she asked me what I would have done if her answer had been yes.”

“What would you have done?” Carson asked curiously.

“After shouting with joy?” Ned questioned. “Married her, eventually. I’m sure we would have waited until after I graduated.” He shrugged. “She didn’t really give me a no, anyway. It was a lot more of a ‘we’re too young’. And we were, which is why we would have had a long engagement.”

Carson considered Ned’s confession. “I can’t say that I would have been exactly pleased if Nancy had come home engaged at eighteen. A lot can change at that age.”

“And we have changed since then.” Ned agreed. “We’ve talked a lot since that first proposal, laid everything out—our fears, our hopes—and we’re on the same page now. I’m pretty sure she’ll say yes. And even if she didn’t…” Ned trailed off. “Then we’ll talk about it and I’ll try again later.”

“No hard feelings?” Carson asked, not believing the young man wouldn’t feel slighted by a rejection.

Ned shrugged. “It wouldn’t be the answer I was looking for, but I love Nancy as she is, and I would never want to change her or force her to be someone she isn’t. If she isn’t ready for the next step, I’ll wait until she is. I guess one of the good things about being young is that there is still plenty of time ahead of us to start our lives together.”

Carson smiled warmly. “You’re a good man, Ned. If I had to lose Nancy to someone, there is no one else I would trust her with other than you.”

No, he wouldn’t be losing Nancy. But he would be gaining a son.


End file.
